now at 5:00, breaking news. live pictures of a man scaling the side of trump tower in midtown. emergency crews have the building surrounded. we're there. but first, serious weather warnings from storm team 4. i'm david ushery. >> and i'm a veal i can't marcus. janice shove tracking all of this. >> we're seeing torrential

downpours. there is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 5:30 for eastern suffolk county between southampton and east hampton and up toward the twin forks. we also have a flash flood warning in effect for this same area from south hold over to east hampton. a lot of very heavy rain and large amount of lightning strikes over a very tiny area. 500 within the l between southampton and east hampton. and rainfall is coming down at the rate of 3 to 4 inches an hour. that's why we have the flood warning. the same storm produced wind damage in north haven, connecticut before the storm moved across long island sound and out towards the twin forks. we can see it's still moving offshore mainly and away from the area, but the severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect. he'll let i'll let you know if there are

breaking news, the man climbing up the side of trump tower on east 56th street. a crowd growing below to watch it unfold. >> reporter: we are seeing wild pictures. in the last couple minutes, you should see someone is breaking through the glass a couple floors up from where this man is climbing with suction cups. trying to get to this man and you can see chunks of glass coming out from that window up above him. and they have been trying to get to this man since around 3:40 -- there goes another piece of glass just falling. almost right alongside of him. this building is surrounded by police as they're trying to get to this man. they have been trying to get to him since 3:40 this afternoon. he's on the sixth or seventh floor. you can see police are

the side trying to get to him. but he's going around list and now what we're seeing is a scaffolding window washers unit coming down the building. and you can series trying to climb up a floor. again, what we're seeing right now is a man who is climbing trump tower, my police source says it's uncertain whether this is a protest, a or the reasoning for it all. police have broken out some win companies and even some panels of a vent a couple floors up above that area that he's in trying to get to him. they are trying to talk him down from it. from what i've been told, they are not going to try to get to him specifically, but they will try to talk to him first. they won't extricate him from the side of the building. but he has these suction cups

he's doing. but in the last couple minutes what we've seen is police breaking out a glass from the side of the building and you could actually see that piece of glass falling alongside of him and cease still making his way around that building. and there is a window washers unit down alongside the building. there is also someic emergency service unit personnel on a ladder right next to the building as well trying to get to him. again, this all started around 3:40 this afternoon. and what we're seeing right now is him climbing up, it almost looks like he's climbing up towards the window where they just broke out. very tense moments here. and i know there are a lot of crowds forming and that is very much the case. in fact the street that we're organization 56th between madison and 5th avenue is

him into a safe area. and as you can imagine, all the buildings that are on this street have also been closed off, people not allowed outside because of this, because of this situation that is unfolding. but a window washing unit is coming down along side the building. and you can see officers right there almost two floors up above, their heads starting to peek thr to talk to him, tell him to come out of there. again this started around 3:40 when the police got the initial call. it's unclear if he's demonstrating, why he's doing this to begin with. police have broken out a window alongside where he is to try to

looks like he's scaling up from what we can see, he has suction cups and that is what he's been using to try to maneuver his way around the building. but from what we've seen, whenever police get close to him, he moves away from officers, tries to go around the building. so he was on would be side, he was able to get around the corner to where he is right now. and that was after police were able to rip out a few sides of the vent there a couple floors above him. it looks like he's n get to police. and it's a very tense situation as officers are trying to talk him down and get him into a safe area. but it doesn't look like he's giving up anytime soon as far as trying to get offer the side of the building. the scaffolding unit coming down along side the building has stopped about three floors up from where he is right now.

people who work in this area. social media is full of videos watching this unfold. a lot of people taking pictures outside their windows. as you can imagine, the corners on fifth avenue and madison are full of people with their phones trying to get the same images you're seeing on your screen. but again, a very tense situation as police try to get a hold of this man who is climbing his way up situation, but i'll send it back over to you in the studio. >> we'll keep an eye on it. and this is the headquarters for trump enterprises, also where donald trump lives. donald trump is not in new york right now. he just had a rally in north carolina. earlier it did appear that police officers were engaging him in conversation. at one point we saw him try to he show the contents of with a was in that knapsack.

not take any chances. again, disruption here in midtown. 56th street between -- on 5th avenue. >> and we do want to get to former nypd commissioner on the phone with us. are you there, sir? thanks so much for joining us. >> i am p. >> so tell us what you know so far about what is happening here. >> well, what is happening is both the police and fire department will use all their resources first to assess whether this danger to others or himself. they will try to negotiate with him and they will try to strategically place officers in position where if he doesn't cooperate, they can grab him. it's a containing situation. and once they determine that he's not going to do harm to others, that there is no explosives in that backpack, they can pretty much wait him out. he has to go up ors highway to go down and at some point they

obviously he's a democrat. >> well, we actually don't know what his motives are as yet . we saw officers pass the glass, a risk of falling down below. >> yes, police and fire are trained in rappelling down the sides of buildings and figuring out how to get the most strategic position whether they will take out a window, whether they will use the but they can contain him. and the best outcome is to talk him into coming down himself. but if he doesn't, they can wait a reasonable period of time and at some point he will be apprehended. >> it's a very challenging situation ahead of them because as you can see some of those windows, there is no opening. and like you see right there, they had to smash one of the

panelings. so is this a really precarious situation and he seems to be outrunning them so to speak. >> the fact is you have to be patient in these situation as. as long as you know that there is no imminent danger to other, you have to try to negotiate. and if they feel there is a danger, they can move in and grab him and but eats one of those situations where you know where the individual is, you can surround him, you can get him in position but the first effort is to talk him down. >> all right.

>> reporter: yes, it looks like the police threw out a blue towel and almost looks like he's climbing up toward that towel and looks like he's responding more to officers as they're trying to talk some sense into him. but fr is a blue towel outside the window that police knocked that building, from that window. and right now it looks like he's trying to climb up towards it. he's still working his way up. and we should point out, he's been calm this whole time. at points he was drinking water. he was laughing. he doesn't seem like he's concerned at all. he adjusted his hat at one point. but what we're seeing is he's climbing around the building, he's made his way around the edges there six or seven floors up from the ground and he's aiming his way closer -- there

it looks like they have made the area safe because of the jagged glass after knocking that part of the window out. they are trying to make it safe so he can make his way through that window. interesting to see the emergency personnel up in that building, they were in the vent area trying to get to him there, a floor up there where you see the towels. and right now everything is calm, it looks like they are communicating with each other yi building. he's calmly using those suction cups to work his because up and it almost look like he's working his way up toward where officers have those towels. also the window washing unit that was coming down towards him has started moving back up, it looks like they are not going that route to try to get to him, so what they're doing is it looks like they're working -- he's looking directly at the

cups to try to get to that area where officers have tried to make it safe for him to try to get through that window. again, this whole thing started around 3:40 this afternoon, the man climbing up trump tower. he's been doing so calmly. at times drinking water, adjusting his ahead. police have been trying to get to him through vents. instead of going towards them, he moved the building from where he was. and thousand you can see him climbing slowly trying to get to the area where police have put towels. and the reason they put those towels is because they knocked the piece of glass from that window out. and we saw it come crashing down and now they're trying to get to him that way in a safe manner. and you can see live on your screen that he is working his

with police because it looks like there is some sort of dialogue or exchange between the two. he's making motions towards them. it's unclear why he's here to begin with, what his connection is trump tower is, if this is a common strags, but what you're seeing is what appears to be the man climbing trying to get towards police. edges are jagged. but you can see right now -- right now what we're he seeing, he's using those suction cups to work his way p and police are watching him do so. this is all by the way happening in a very calm fashion. there has been no sign of

as you can imagine. both corners have been blocked off by police to make sure that this street is blocked off as police work to get this man safely. you can see he's moved up. and every time he moves up, we hear the loud thump of the suction cup. and it looks like he's moving in closer to the corner and closer to that window where police are working out of trying to get to him. we see some of the officers using the vent pa out those panels to try to get to him, they're no longer in that area, in fact trying to get closer to him through that window where they put those towels out. and he's slowly working his way up. it looks like they're having more communication with him and now we're seeing some folks, some officers looking out

he's on the 16th floor a what we've just learned. we've learned from police on the scene, he is actually on the -- the hole that you see on the window is on the 16th floor. so he is actually 16 flights up. and that is where you see the glass that is out from the window where police have thrown a towel over it. that is where he is. he's 16 flights up. with suction cups clooiming up that building, possibly trying to get to police. we know police have been making an effort to trying to get to him since around 3:40 this afternoon trying to get him into a safe area. bruh again, latest that we just got from the nypd here on the ground is that the man climbing up trump tower is on the 16th

it looks like they have made some communication with him, it looks like he may be working his way up. but at the same time as i'm looking at this, there we go, he's -- he's moving his suction cup. you know what, we'll continue to monitor this situation, but as i'm watching this, the suction cups, he's staying in that area, so there is a chance that he may not be following send it back to you. >> okay. and i have couple questions for you. describe the situation on the ground for me more. what is beneath him and also is vehicle traffic still moving? how is this disrupting new yorkers on the ground? >> reporter: the street is at a stand still. there is no traffic allowed

so that has caused a disruption. there are trees directly below him, so i would say if he's on the 16th floor, at least five floors down if not more appears to be a terrace with trees. he's not on the side of the building that just faces directly down to the ground. so that may be how he even got there to begin with, we're not sure. but directly beneath him about six flights down is a landing area there if you will. but, yes, traffic is at a stand still on 56th street. no cars moving below here. there is nothing but of course police and i was watching this unfold and about six flights down is a terrace or some sort of landing. he's possibly climbing up to the

>> in days you just joined us, is this the trump towers, donald trump is not in town but this playing out the last hour. >> yes, ray speaking to us on the ground and apparently authorities have been trying to get this guy down, but it doesn't look like he's getting any closer to them. but this is the closest that authorities have been to him since we've started this program. we do have howard safer on the phone, former fdny commissioner. are you still there? >> i am. >> i know you've seen a lot of things. have you ever seen anything like that before? >> we have. we've seen others scaling buildings. and once you assess that they're not a danger to the public and primarily a danger to

hopefully he's heading towards that 16th floor window. but the police have taken precaution, they have stopped traffic around the building so make sure nobody is in danger from anything falling, whether falling glass from the building or the individual himself. they have people below him, above him, on the sides of him. and you can wait these people out. it does not appear based on what i've heard that there is any th this individual is making whatever statement he's making and eventually he will either get to the top or to the window. >> how secure are these suction cups? >> i honestly don't know. but if he's at the 16th floor, they apparently work pretty well. >> i thought that he was reaching his hand out, so trying to wait and see if in fact he's

trying to maintain his position here. >> the nypd probably has one of their negotiators there. we have some of the best in the world and hopefully they're trying to reason with this individual and get him to get out of a situation is that dangerous to himself or others. it does not sound like there is an threat here. >> yeah. hang on the land with us, sir. >> yeah, jonathan dienst has more into who this person is. >> we were speaking with police officials who have been briefed by the eesu officers on scene trying to talk this man down and the information that police are dealing with again, a grain of salt because it is very

real i.d., but what they're work with is they talk to him, that his name is steve, he's claiming he's from virginia and he wanted to climb the trump tower so donald trump could see him. that is the information very basic that police are working with at this time. again, a grain of salt and we won't know until police get him in through that window, find out what is in that backpack, if there is any sort of banner or supplies that he was going to protest one way or the he preliminary basic information that police negotiate tors have been working with as they're trying to con investigation or speak with this climber and to try to get him to work his way closer to that open window and climb inside. and the question now, is he really going to follow through and turn himself in through that window safely or perhaps delay this any longer than what has been going on. but that's the basic information and police are being very

him in and they will wait him out because as the commissioner explained, not too many places he can go and it's just a waiting game before this eventually ends. he has made his statement or whatever statement he's been trying to make and soon we hope this will come to an end safely. >> and donald trump is in north carolina. >> you would imagine that he's probably >> so steve, if that is your real name from virginia, you got your point across, and hopefully they can get this guy down. we do want to go over some of the facts. we've been going through this for about an hour and a half, this guy has been the on the side of this building. he's on the 16th floor and the building is 68 stories high. >> and we should point out it looks relatively calm, but this comprises a lot of emergency resources and also disrupts the

to get about in a busy midtown. ray villeda is on the ground. >> reporter: since we last spoke, what we see on the ground below, 16 flights down from where he's climbing is a rescue inflatable has been laid down on the ground directly be thooet the area where he is. almost right next to the entrance. and this man is not climbing toward the past the window in that corner that he has basically been in since we last spoke to you. he's climbing past that hole. at times it looked like he was either reaching out our taunting them, unclear what he was doing, but we saw some hand movements where he was clearly acknowledging police inside that window that they broke the glass of. and it looks like they have been communicating, but he's climbing

you. he's climbed past that hole and is working his way up the building. you mentioned about the traffic and stand still and the tact that it's rush hour. 56th street is blocked off between madison and 5th avenue and people have gathered just trying to get the a peek at what is going on. police are calmly talking to this man, trying to get him to get through that glass from that window and get him into the building safely. police's orders, he's climbing up that tower away from where police made it safe for him to climb through. so he's 16, maybe 17 floors up now climbing up trump tower and is making no effort at trying to get through that window. so he is continuing his climbing of trump tower as police try to talk to him trying to get him into a safe area inside the

we don't know what his ultimate goal is or what he's intending to do. we heard from jonathan dienst that he wanted donald trump to see him, his name is steve. >> well, like i said, donald trump probably has seen him, but again, we just don't know what he's planning to do at this point. 68 stories, we could be here all night. >> and officers are trained to be patient. they did try to open up a few panels. and this reminds me, often we see this when workers are stuck on scaffolding by accident. and we see the emergency responders go into action. this someone willingly taking risks and a lot of disrpgs. ray mentioned 56th street, so heading east. imagine the people going to the 59th street bridge, sometimes they take that alternate right.

putting the flags up. this is -- this is unique in the fact that it's happening during the day and we're looking at it live. >> and because it is affecting and impacting life as we understand it. and again, there is some element of risk here according to jonathan dienst. officers were talking to him and we saw him appear to pull out things in the knapsack, perhaps trying to reassure the officers. but the knapsack, they don't know what it's in it. again remaining relatively calm. >> you wonder what they're saying. >> so what could they say to get this guy inside. >> reminding viewers again this is the trump tower on 56th. it's been the site of many protests on the ground as donald trump has been a candidate for

there at times. but this now obviously a visible statement or cry for attention, we don't know what he really wants to convey here. >> only thing that he with know is that he wants donald trump to see him. that's the only thing that has been somewhat confirmed. want to go back to ray villeda on the ground for us. >> reporter: >> reporter: he's on the southeast corner of trump tower. we were told by police 16 flights and instead of going into that window that he's knocked out, he's climbing past that window working his way up. directly beneath him is a sort of landing. and they have even put a rescue inflatable on that landing that i told you about directly beneath him, so there are now two inflatable landings for him in case he happens to fall down. there is one directly beneath him in a terrace area.

ground in front of trump tower. this of course if he happens to fall. they have knocked out a window on a floor below him and vents on the other side of the building. and at points it looked like he was communicating with police, but he's climbing past the window. we're seeing police from the emergency services unit trying to talk sense into calm fashion. at points drinking water, adjusting his hat. but has not made any effort to try to get in through the window. we've seen police knock out a glass of a window in efforts to try to get to him, they even laid a towel in that area to try to get him through. we saw a window washing scaffolding unit trying to get to him that way.

we're seeing more officers on the ground. both corners on madison and 5th avenue are blocked off as police are trying to make sure that this street is blocked off for whatever happens. police have been talking to him since 3:40 this afternoon, that's when police got to trump tower and were trying to get a hold of him. but as you can see, he is not giving into any police efforts. he hasn been for at least the last hour. and it does not like he's making any effort to stopping. >> and the left side of your screen as you can he see, large crowds are as accept assembled looking at this guy.